Two men tried to steal five protected sparrowhawk chicks from a nest at the River Almond near Newbridge.
Police in Edinburgh and the Scottish SPCA are investigating the attempted theft , which was thwarted by members of the public walking in the area.
Officers say that the men were seen in woodland close to the Almond Aqueduct, close to Cliftonhall Road, at around 2pm on Saturday. They then told a member of the public that there was a nest nearby that contained five chicks, and intimated that they planned to steal them with a view to selling them on. They indicated that they had tried to remove a number of chicks from the nest.
Police were then contacted and officers attended the scene before also contacting the Scottish SPCA.
[Sparrowhawks, photo by Dave Culley]
One of the suspects is described as being white, in his 50s, around 5ft 6ins to 5ft 9ins tall and he was wearing a black baseball cap, black down jacket, black jeans and black shoes. The other man was white, in his 30s, of slim build, slightly taller and wearing a Aberdeen FC shirt and shorts, with white trainers. They both spoke with local accents.
Inquiries to identify these men are said to be ongoing, and police want anyone who spotted them in the area to come forward.
PC Charles Davidson , wildlife crime officer said: “We are working with our partners to fully investigate this report and would remind the public that the taking, or harming, of these raptors is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
I’d appeal to any dog walkers or member of the public who may have been near the Union Canal on Saturday afternoon, and who saw these two men, to get in touch with officers should they have information to assist our inquiries.”
Scottish SPCA special investigations unit undercover inspector said: “We are pleased the attempt to steal the sparrowhawk chicks was halted by the vigilant members of the public.
We want to make it clear to the public that all birds, including birds of prey, are protected by law and it is a criminal offence to remove eggs, chicks or birds from the wild.
Under no circumstances should they be removed from the wild.
Any incident of this nature will be fully investigated by the Scottish SPCA together with Police Scotland .”
Anyone with information should contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 3414 of 6 July. Alternatively you can phone Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
ENDS (from Edinburgh Live website)
Raptor Persecution UK 
More Scum👹! Hope get caught🤞! Xxx
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Just wtf is wrong with people. When will some folk start to understand that wild creatures exist in their own right and not for the tinkering or collecting of bloody stupid humans.
Absolute morons!
It is well recognised that Sparrowhawks are no use for Falconry because, being so highly strung, they have a tendency to simply drop dead without any warning. Apart from that, even the females are a bit small for catching any useful prey.
Hitting the buyers would be a very effective way of curtailing this trade which has been going on for a long time. Science is now at the stage where DNA samples can identify whether the birds were wild and where they came from. I would imprison anyone found with a bird taken from the wild when located. Though, to be honest, one might have to visit the Middle east to find them.
Sounds like morons. If you know you are breaking the law you don’t chat about it to passers by.
And yet falconry is legal and regarded as a respectable activity?